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Well…the last year blog hiatus was unplanned. Lot of “life” things happened and the blogging fell on the back burner. The fun part is that all of the “life” things were good – a new house and a new baby came our way in 2015! I was pregnant for most of the last year and was REALLY tired the majority of my pregnancy, which really was silly because I sat all day for work (I commend any pregnant mama out there who is on her feet all day). Thus, I lost my drive for blogging as I spent many a night sprawled out on the couch with exhaustion from baking a human, or working alongside Luke to figure out the details / paperwork / DIY projects that come with a first house purchase, or making lists on lists on lists to prep for baby. Ruby Julaine arrived on October 2nd and it’s been a whirlwind of blow-out diapers, a hungry hungry baby, and giggles / cries / grins ever since.

Time does fly though and I’m now a mama to a three month old (what?!) and 9+ months into being a homeowner. I’m on my last few weeks of maternity leave and just love all the time I get with my little peanut. I’ve been finding time to have fun in the new kitchen while Ruby naps or while she’s strapped to my chest. Food is still VERY much one of my favorite things to read about, explore, talk about and share. I just have to be a bit more creative about how to sneak it into my day.

This blog started as a place where I could not only track the recipes that I knew would be “make again” for me because of how delicious they turned out, but to also share those recipes that I love, with you all. I’ve had a blast seeing what posts resonate with folks the most, creating and sending out Giveaway Packages and finding new and different ways to explore food.

As I prepared to delve back in to the blogging world, I knew that a different approach on the blog would be needed due to Ruby requiring so much of my free time. As all of my past posts will show, I used to photograph every step of a recipe. I always thought that was cool on blogs that I read and I appreciated seeing those as I tried new recipes to ensure I was doing things the right way. But, I’ve realized that…

it makes these posts crazy long at times

often all of those pictures don’t provide anything better than a simple written description could

Thus – I’m trying a new approach going forward with a just a few summary pictures to capture a recipe and a more concise “How to Make” section.

Enough back story and rambling, what am I bringing to the blog today? This is a recreation of a “Twisted Turkey” wrap that I would get EVERY time it was offered at one of my past client’s cafeteria. It was a basic turkey wrap but with sautéed onions and cranberry mayo, which brought the wrap to another level. I always thought of it as a twist on a Thanksgiving dinner with elements of turkey and cranberry sauce used in a completely different way.

When I left that work project, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would have a craving for that wrap. So I made my own version, and I think you’ll LOVE it!

I added my own healthy twist for the cranberries – making a cranberry yogurt instead of mayo. The base is a twist from my favorite cranberry sauce from Real Simple with Greek yogurt added in until the yogurt was smooth enough and the right taste. I also left out the bourbon from the base recipe (though you could keep it in and crank up the flavor even more!).

I also amped up the sautéed onions by taking a sub-recipe from my French Onion Soup Meatballs recipe, which I featured before on the blog. I have a vivid scent memory of making the onions the very first time I made those meatballs and I thought they’d be PERFECT for this wrap. I wasn’t disappointed!

I would recommend making a big batch of the sautéed Thyme Onions and Cranberry Yogurt in advance and then you’ll have both on hand to add to your wraps for the week and you can add these into other dishes too! The onions are great in sandwiches of all shapes and sizes or even on top of a steak and the cranberry yogurt is really tasty with granola and ice cream. 🙂

Ingredients (makes 1 wrap):

1 tortilla

Handful of your choice of greens (I used iceberg lettuce in one wrap and spinach in another, up to you!)

3-4 tomato slices

1/2 cup of Thyme Onions (see below)

3-4 slices of deli turkey breast

2 Tbsp of Cranberry Yogurt

Thyme Onions:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 white onions, halved and sliced

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 cup beef stock

1/4 cup red wine (I used Shiraz)

Cranberry Yogurt:

1 12-ounce bag of cranberries (I used fresh, but you can also do frozen)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup grapefruit juice

Greek yogurt to taste (I used about 1½ cups)

How to Make:

I recommend starting off with the Thyme Onions. These smell utterly FANTASTIC as they cook. Have a snack to munch while you make these, or you may be tempted to eat your hand. Seriously.

Slice your white onions by halving them and then slicing them into half-moon shapes. Add the olive oil to a big skillet and heat up over medium heat. Add in the sliced onions and the S&P. Stirring often, cook the onions until they’re caramelized – about 15-20 minutes – then add in the thyme, beef stock and red wine.

Turn the heat down to medium low and stir the onions frequently until there is little to no liquid left. Turn off the heat and set the onions to the side. They’ll be a pretty light purple (from the wine) and will taste SO good.

To make the Cranberry Yogurt (my spin on cranberry mayo), it’s a combination of making a traditional cranberry sauce, like you’d eat at Thanksgiving, and then adding in yogurt until the result is the taste and consistency you want.

Put the cranberries, sugar and grapefruit juice all into a saucepan and simmer the concoction over medium low heat. You want to let this go until the cranberries burst and the sauce starts to thicken up, which takes about 20-25 minutes.

It works great if you have the onions and the cranberries all going at the same time as both need similar total time to cook and you can then stir and keep an eye on both things.

Once your cranberries are thick and the berries have burst, you’re ready to add in the yogurt. I love the creaminess and taste of Greek yogurt (not to mention the extra protein), so that’s what I recommend. Pour the cranberry sauce into a food processor (blender would work well too) and slowly add in yogurt until you get the flavor you want and the consistency you want. I added yogurt in 1/4 cups increments to see how things tasted / looked after each addition. I ended up adding about 1 and 1/2 cups total. But, this is completely up to you! Once you’re done, it’s a gorgeous pink color.

The time has come to assemble your wrap! Spread the Cranberry Yogurt in a line down the center of your wrap and then, using the back of the spoon, spread it all over the tortilla. You can’t feel guilty about using lots of this delicious stuff, as it’s NOT the usual condiment of mayo. Yay!

Down the center of your tortilla, add your greens of choice and the slices of tomato. Then, lay your slices of turkey. Lastly, spread out the Thyme Onions on top.

Fold up the bottom and wrap up the tortilla by folding one side of the tortilla over your ingredients and then gently rolling it up. Slice in half and enjoy!

This takes your normal turkey wrap and really kicks it up a notch in flavor. One of my favorite lunches to purchase is NOW my favorite lunch to make at home. Cheers!

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Happy New Year, all!! I hope you enjoyed a relaxing holiday season and had plenty of time with those you love most. This time of year is always great for reconnecting with friends you don’t see often, getting extended time with family AND…..plenty of delicious food and libations!

About that last part…libations…I have a new favorite ‘warm drink’ that I can’t wait to share with you. It’s perfect for this cold time of year when you want to stay in and drink something warm and toasty. Have YOU had a Tom & Jerry?

If YES: I’m so happy that I finally know what all the fuss is about.

If NO: MAN you need to try this!

The best way I can describe a Tom & Jerry is an egg noggy ice cream (the “mix”) that’s added to a hot beverage of either hot milk or hot water, some booze is mixed in and TA DA…a boozy float of goodness. It’s GOOD.

Now, you can buy Tom & Jerry mix at the grocery store…it’s usually near the ice cream in the frozen section. However, you can also make this at home and it’s really not terribly hard to do so. You likely already have everything on hand anyway, so I like to think you’re saving yourself a couple of bucks. 🙂

We made this over the Christmas holiday with Luke’s family and I’m sure I’ll be whipping up a batch for him and I to have in our own freezer for when we have friends over.

So, if you’re looking for a way to continue to celebrate New Year’s with fun and fancy drinks, this is one I recommend with two thumbs WAYYYYYY up in the air. It would also be great on a night in with your significant other, friends or heck, just a fun drink to have while you’re curled up binging on Netflix (ummm….Friends is on Netflix…already fully committed to watching the whole series from start to finish). Whatever the occasion – make this. Do it.

Here we go…thanks to Girls Guide to Butter for the base recipe! We adapted a bit but I was so thankful to have a place to start from. We made 6 cups of batter so we’d have enough for family throughout the time we were in WI, but you can easily adjust for the amount you’d like to make. Essentially, the amount of eggs equals the quantity of batter (in cups) you’ll end up with. Just adjust the other ingredients up or down depending on how much batter you’re going for. I

Ingredients (for 6 cups of batter):

For the Tom & Jerry mix…

6 eggs, separated (whites in one bowl and yolks in another bowl)

Pinch of salt (helps when whipping the egg whites)

2 sticks of softened unsalted butter

(approximately) 7 cups of powdered sugar

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tsp nutmeg

When ready to make the drinks…

Hot water or hot milk (your preference)

A “glug” of your favorite brandy

A “glug” of your favorite rum

Nutmeg to sprinkle of top

How to Make:

First step is to separate your eggs. I do this by cracking each in my hands and letting the whites slip through my fingers into a bowl until I’m left holding just the yolk. Then I slide the yolk into a separate bowl. Easy! Messy, but easy. Do this with all of the eggs and then set aside the bowl with the yolks.

Grab the bowl with the whites and locate your hand mixer or prep your stand mixer. Beat your eggs whites for several minutes until the whites come together to form stiff peaks. This takes several minutes, so chat up those in the kitchen or enjoy your current Netflix selection. One helpful hint would be to sprinkle in some salt while you’re whipping the egg whites, it helps!

Once the egg whites look something like the Rocky Mtns, slide them out of the bowl and into another bowl off to the side.

Back in your mixing bowl, add the softened butter and beat it until it’s light and creamy. Then add in the egg yolks and beat them in, then slowly add in the powdered sugar (I recommend adding a cup at a time, to prevent the powdered sugar cloud poofing up from the mixer).

Also add in the vanilla and the nutmeg and beat that in before finally beating in those egg whites you set aside.

The final batter looks a bit like ice cream that’s been sitting on the counter softening for an hour…and it tastes SO GOOD. I may have tried a wee bit.

All that’s left to do, is freeze it! This makes it more like a boozy float as the Tom & Jerry mix floats to the top before melting.

After freezing for a few hours, pull it out and grab your favorite collection of mugs.

Put 1 ice cream scoop amount into each mug…

Pour a “glug” (about 1/2 a shot) of each of your booze selections (rum and brandy work really well!)…

Then, fill the rest of the mug up with hot water or hot milk and sprinkle the top with nutmeg. We did water, but milk would make this even more creamy and would be JUST as great. (FYI…for anyone having a booze-free version, this can be just Tom & Jerry mix and the hot water or hot milk.)

Hope you guys try this beverage out and enjoy serving to family and friends too! Click this link for a printable recipe PDF.

Cheers!

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Hey crew! If you’re anything like me around the holidays, you’re trying to come up with some new cookie recipes or find a new food to have out at the holiday spread. Or maybe you’re hosting a big group and you need some ideas for breakfast in the morning?

I wanted to have a short, but helpful post for you guys to help you find some great options within the Spatulas and Buttons archive. I would also LOVE to hear some of your favorites! Leave a comment below with one of the holiday classics that you enjoy making, I’d love to try out new ideas from you all!

Classic cookies that everyone will love…

You guys know my love for trying out and posting cookie recipes here on the blog, so we’ll start there. These are a few of my favorites…

These ARE my favorite and was my choice for cookie exchange contribution this year. They’re chewy and wonderful, not overly minty (unless you’re heavy-handed with the mint extract…I recommend to not be) and truly PERFECT for the holidays. Whenever I make these, they disappear FAST.

This is a classic at the holidays, am I right?! This sugar cookie recipe is one that I personally prefer as it produces chewy wonderfulness. I got have ’em chewy! They’re wonderful when frosted but still tasty if eaten plain.

These look festive, they can be made into all sorts of shapes and when dusted with powdered sugar, well, let’s be real – it looks like snow. Perfect. No more explanation needed.

Snacks to bring to that party you’re invited to…

It’s always great to have a few go-to’s for when you’re asked to bring something to the holiday get-together with family. Or, if you’re wanting to be creative and give a hostess gift that will double as snacks. Here are a few options that I’ve found to be delicious…

Mixed nuts seem to be a staple at the holidays and this recipe just gives a little pizzazz to the mixed nuts bowl you put out on the table every year. It’s a little spicy, a little sweet with a great layer of rosemary throughout. Yum!

When trying to find a sweet dip to balance out all of their savory cousins (are dips cousins?!), this will win over anyone with a sweet tooth. It’s great with fruit or with plain cookies (e.g. Nilla Wafers).

A different approach to the ‘bark’ that always seems to be out on the dessert table at this time of year. This one uses dried fruit to give a sweet and tangy flavor and a little crunch. It’s also very pretty and would work perfectly as a hostess gift!

Breakfast for a crowd…

Are you planning on hosting family and friends throughout the next few weeks? If so, when it comes to breakfast, it’s essential to have a few plans in your back pocket. These options would be perfect to feed pajama clad folks and will be a tasty way to start your day…

This casserole is a twist on the New York bagel, with everything bagels, cream cheese and endless possibilities to add your meat of choice (lox, sausage or bacon anyone?!) and/or veggies. I love this with the classic tomatoes and red onion combo, but you could add in some bell peppers, green onions, etc. It can even be prepped the night before, leaving you more time to snooze in the AM.

A fancier oatmeal that will warm everyone’s stomachs as they wake up for the day. You can add in whichever fruit strikes your fancy (raspberries and blueberries have worked well in my previous experiments). This goes well when paired with bacon and/or sausage (and makes your kitchen smell like the best breakfast restaurant in town).

Looking for a bread/pastry (that doesn’t require you to wake up at the crack of dawn) to feed warm to your guests?! These scones are a cinch to throw together and you could easily make a few batches at once. They’d be great paired with some eggs in the morning, providing a perfect item to soak up those runny yolks. Sigh. Now I want one. AND a runny yolk for dipping.

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I’m finally going to get to try out some new recipes over the holiday season, with a break from work and plenty of time to experiment in the kitchen. Can’t wait to share these adventures with you!

And guess what?! This girl finally got herself a DSLR camera! SO excited to capture better and clearer pictures for you all in future posts. I know my iPhone photos won’t win any awards. But hey, I did the best I could with the technology I had. Looking forward to learning the in’s and out’s of the new camera so I can bring more mouth-watering pictures to the blog.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season, with time spent relaxing with those you love most, enjoying delicious treats and sipping libations that warm your belly.

So I realize to many, granola is not the most exciting thing. To those people I say, you need to try THIS granola.

Now, I’ve posted a previous granola recipe on here (which I still thoroughly enjoy and still recommend), but this is granola with a different sort of twist – sweet and kicked up a notch, with different crunch, different flavors (hello again, browned butter) and CHOCOLATE. Yes, there is chocolate in this granola and I know it shouldn’t be my favorite part as at the heart of it all, granola is supposed to be “healthy-ish” (right?!)…but it is. I’m not even sorry about it.

I made this a few weeks back and our apartment smelled soooooooo good. I would make this solely to make my apartment smell like THAT again. If for nothing else, make this to infuse your home with smells of cookies, oatmeal, and browned butter.

Gah.

So. Delish.

Ironic choice of words (and still true words) as this recipe is from Seriously Delish, the cookbook I’ve raved about a few times (the Baked Oatmeal from a few posts back is from here too). I want to make just about every recipe in this cookbook, so this will NOT be the last time you read about it on this blog. Jessica wrote a masterpiece that has the right amount of creativity, taste, coziness AND her hilarious commentary throughout; it’s the perfect cookbook compliment to her blog How Sweet Eats. I’ve read Seriously Delish cover to cover a few times. (P.S. is that weird? I read cookbooks cover to cover. Ok, ok. Yes, that’s weird. Please reserve your judgment.)

So about that granola…

…here we go, in a recipe adapted from Jessica’s recipe in Seriously Delish.

This is super simple guys, you can whip it up in no time. Whether you do this the morning you plan to enjoy it for breakfast (it’s excellent with some Greek yogurt) or make it the night before.

Before you start mixing, preheat your oven to 325 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set the cookie sheet away for now and locate a large bowl. Now to mix!

In said large bowl, combine the oats…

…slivered almonds…

…flaxseed (and I went with whole flax seeds to add some extra texture and crunch, but you can use ground flaxseed if you prefer too)…

…brown sugar…

…cinnamon…

…sprinkling of salt…

…then stir that all together and set aside. On to the liquids!

The liquids will all get poured into a saucepan over low heat. Start with the honey…

…then the coconut oil…

…and then vanilla.

Before adding in the butter, you want to brown this up. In a separate small saucepan, melt down the butter over medium/low heat, whisking continually until wonderful brown flecks appear on the bottom of the pan.

Once it’s at that point, remove from heat and pour it in with the rest of the liquids.

This liquid concoction smells like HEAVEN right now. Take a moment to take a deep breath in and savor that.

Sigh.

Ok, now all that’s left is to mix up those liquids in with the dry ingredients. Use a spatula to mix everything and ensure all of the dry ingredients are coated.

Spread this out on the parchment paper and pop it in the oven. Bake for 3o minutes, stopping to stir at the 10 min, 20 min and 25 min marks. Stir again at the end when you pull it out. The granola should be golden brown and have succeeded in filling your kitchen with delicious smells. (See the pics below to see how this darkens over the cooking time.)

But wait! As you recall, we have one last ingredient to add in…mini chocolate chip time.

Let the granola cool for a bit before sprinkling the chocolate over the top. To cool, I used the parchment paper to lift the granola out of the pan and set the parchment paper on the counter. Once the granola has cooled for about 15 minutes, I sprinkled the mini chocolate chips throughout the granola and let the chocolate melt a bit (as the granola is still warm). But, I let the granola cool for an hour or two with the chocolate chips.

I just scooped this it into Tupperware to store. It’s been delicious on ice cream for a sweet and crunchy dessert or mixed with Greek yogurt for a fancy (but easy) breakfast. It’s also great all by itself for a snack.

Hope you guys give this a try, let me know what you think! And definitely encourage you to get creative and add any other little tidbits to the granola (ideas: spices [nutmeg], nuts [pecans or walnuts], dried fruit, etc.).

The time for the Thanksgiving Giveaway has opened and closed, and it is now the 12:01 – 12:17 PM time slot, so it is tiiiiimmmmeeeee to announce who has won! (We may have recently watched Lion King in this apartment so any time I write “It is timmmeee!” please say this to yourself in your best Rafiki voice. Cool. Thanks.)

We had 77 entrants vying for the chance to receive a box o’ goodies (can I just say how awesome it is to have 77 of you following?!? You guys are the BEST!!).

Drumroll………………………………

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Winner #1: Andi Moody

Winner #2: Ellen Nieman

Winner #3: Cyndi Billings

CONGRATS!! THREE CHEERS!! HUZZAHHHH!!!

Very excited to concoct boxes for these folks and send off my ‘Thanks!’ / by ‘Giving’ boxes to each of you. I will be emailing each of you to confirm your mailing address and what you would like baked and sent to you!

And with that….the third round of the S&B Giveaway series is complete! Well, sort of. I have to bake / make / create / pack / mail everything now. But that’s the fun part, second of course to the moment you all get when you open your package and enjoy the boxes o’ treats.

As I did last time, I’ll do a post on the Giveaway boxes’ contents so you’re able to see the lovely goodies and get excited for the next one. I would love to do another one around the end of the year, as a final holiday season Giveaway. This one may just be two winners but would likely have more contents in the boxes, we shall see.

With that – wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday! I’m off to the dog park with Luke to run around with our puppy Winnie (I’ll have to show you a picture of her in a future post, she’s ridiculously cute and loves to hang out around my feet while I’m in the kitchen) before football this afternoon.

Cheers!!

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As promised, it is time! Giveaway time that is. Now for anyone new to the S&B Giveaway concept, it’s pretty darn simple. And you can win some pretty awesome treats, delivered right to your door via mail and baked with love and some funky dance moves from yours truly. There have been two past Giveaways and you can read about the lucky winners and their boxes o’ winnings here and here.

S&B Thanksgiving Giveaway:

Who/Why: Because it’s the time of year when we all take a step back and think about all of the various blessings we have to be thankful for, I want you all to know how thankful I am for YOU. This blog would just be an awkward food-picture filled diary without you all to read, comment, like, try out recipes and keep the dialogue a two-way street. It’s the best when one of you tell me that you’ve made a recipe and you / your family / your friends etc. enjoyed it. To show you all my appreciation, there will be THREE lucky winners!!!

What: A fun-filled box of goodies could arrive at YOUR door. It will cost $0. And there will be enough treats in your box to share with family and friends OR if you must, you could hoard it all for yourself. But c’mon, it’s the holidays and show your love for others with a little sharing. 🙂

What will be in said box?

YOU GET TO PICK! You get to pick something from the blog OR you can get creative and make a request! The only guidelines are that your choice must be ok being outside of a refrigerator (cookies/muffins/snacks/cupcakes…all great for mailing) so that when your box arrives, the contents are edible.

As with the previous Blog Giveaways, other fun surprises will likely find their way in. Don’t think anyone will be upset about that.

How: Entering the Giveaway is easy…all you must do is be a Follower of the blog!

If you’re already a Follower, then congrats you are already entered to win! Three cheers!!

If you’re not already a Follower, then click the Follow button in the upper right corner of the blog, follow the prompts (you’ll receive an email and need to confirm from that email) and become an official Follower to be entered. Becoming a Follower means that you’ll get an email each time I post in the future. This is also how I’ll clarify the details of the package and the mailing address with the winner as I get to see a list of all Blog Followers’ email addresses.

The winner will be selected through use of a random number generator where each person will be assigned a number and the RNG will do the rest. Equal chance for all! But TRIPLE the opportunity for you all with THREE BOXES!!

When: The Giveaway entry period will end Saturday, November 15th at 11:57 PM (CST) [because random numbers are more fun]. I’ll announce the winner in a post Sunday sometime between 12:01 PM and 12:17 PM. Mark your calendars!

Those are all the details, friends. It’s my way of saying thanks and providing some delicious treats to three lucky readers.

Ready, set, GO!!!

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Folks, before I dive in, I wanted to share some fun thoughts I have about sprucing up the blog. First, I want to infuse more creativity into what I post for you all (the “buttons” side of the blog, which is supposed to more about the crafty things and creative things I do outside the kitchen). I also wanted to create an easier way for you all to follow a recipe step-by-step instead of having to scroll the whole blog post to see each step. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to do my usual documentation of capturing photos as I go, but I also will now create a little recipe card summary for you all! I hope to make these creative and different for each recipe – all hand written by me! I hope this will make it event easier to replicate any of the recipes and have fun in your own kitchen, experimenting and producing delicious food. It will also allow some more creativity to hit the blog so it’s not ALL food ALL the time. Please let me know what you think about this! I love hearing from you, and I want to make this blog a place that you enjoy coming to, reading and having a chuckle…and then be inspired to go make something! Leave a comment below about the recipe card idea and if you think this would be something neat to go back and include as updates on all the old blog posts!

This blog came about purely as a fun way to document the trials and adventures in the kitchen. I learn by doing and I love learning by finding other bloggers, cookbooks, cooking shows, etc. and trying out the fun foods I see on these blogs, cookbook pages or on the TV. I don’t always put my own twist on things (sometimes the original just doesn’t need any changes!), but I do always try to show you where I found the delicious recipes so you too can find some new places to go and read more about other tasty food concoctions you could try. I am doing my best to be more adventurous in the kitchen than when this blog started a few years ago. If I want to try my own twist on something – whether to be original and innovate or just because I don’t have all the ingredients something calls for – I will! Look forward to seeing more and more of those creative spins on recipes in the future blog posts coming to your computer/phone/iPad screen.

Finally, last exciting thing I wanted to share with you guys…I think it’s a great time for another S&B Giveaway!! It’s been a few months since the last one, and with the holidays approaching – it just seems like a great way for me to say THANKS to my blog readers! I’ll post more details about the Giveaway later this week, but all you need to do to enter is to be a follower of the blog. Details to come, but get excited!

Alrighty, enough already. Let’s get to the applesauce! Don’t forget to scroll down to the bottom of the post for the recipe card that you can use to follow this as you make your own applesauce!

This recipe is adapted from Chocolate, Chocolate and More (a place I will HAVE to get more delicious recipe ideas, particularly for my sweet-tooth husband).

Ingredients:

7-8 apples (we had a variety from the apple orchard, but most were Courtland apples)

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp Aztec seasoning (this is a specialty spice that Luke and I are currently obsessed with – gives a little extra ‘zing’. But if you don’t have it and your grocery store doesn’t have it, you can leave it out.)

1 tsp allspice

3/4 c. light brown sugar

2-3 Tbsp lemon juice

How to Make:

This is super simple, guys. The beauty of a crockpot is it does all the hard work for you and the bonus – you get a kitchen that just smells DELICIOUS all day. Hard to top that!

First, chop up the apples into small bite-size pieces. Once all your apples are chopped, throw ’em into a crockpot.

Now, grab your spices and brown sugar. As you measure, just dump these right on top of the apples. Simple, right?!

Last, measure the lemon juice and sprinkle that over the top of everything.

Last, use a big spatula to thoroughly mix all the spices/lemon juice/apples. Then, on goes the lid, set your crockpot on low and cook for 7-8 hours.

I let mine go a bit longer than 8 hours which cooked things down even more (which I love). If you want less mushy applesauce, lean towards the 7 hour or even less. It’s all up to you!

I love applesauce cold, it’s a great snack and it’s the perfect Fall-spiced food to have at this time of year. However, you can also serve this up warm! It would be great on porkchops (warm) and also would be great with some crunchy granola (cold). Regardless how you serve it, you can store this easily in mason jars.

Here’s the helpful recipe card to assist you in your applesauce making! Cheers!

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This baked oatmeal is the perfect, cozy breakfast on a chilly day and the sweetness of the raspberries is a wonderful compliment to the warm, cinnamon-y oatmeal (apparently I’m on an unintentional raspberry kick). However, lots of other fruits can easily be used instead – I would love to try fresh peaches the next time they’re in season! And I’ve used blueberries for this as well and it was just as tasty. We may try apple next, as we have a plethora of apples from a recent apple orchard visit.

Now, before we dive into the ins and outs of making yourself baked oatmeal, I first have to say that before this attempt, I had never had baked oatmeal and didn’t really know what about oatmeal would even require baking. I grew up with the delicious Quaker Oat instant packets that required a few minutes in the microwave and “ta da”, oatmeal! I associated oatmeal with – “instant”. Effective marketing, Quaker Oats.

So, when I opened my Seriously Delish cookbook (from one of my absolute favorite bloggers, Jessica, over at How Sweet Eats) and I saw this recipe, I knew it was moving up to the front of the recipe queue. For starters, Jessica talks about HER love of Quaker Oak instant oatmeal! Ha! A kindred spirit! And the recipe looked like one that would be the perfect recipe for a fall day and well, tis the season. I was sold.

This does take a little planning, but I promise you that it’s not a difficult breakfast to whip up for you, you and a roommate/spouse or even for a big group! I made this the first time for my husband and I and then proceeded to make it again a week later for Luke’s family. For the second attempt I used steel-cut oats and blueberries and the twist resulted in just as delicious oatmeal but with a bit more texture.

Enough about the ‘why’ of baked oatmeal, let’s get to the ‘how’!

I made a few tweaks to the original recipe that Jessica provides in her cookbook and I can’t wait to continue to experiment with this in the future. Possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:

For the oatmeal:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats (I’ve also done this with steel-cut oats and it’s super tasty, but has more texture than the normal oats route, so just know that in advance. But I definitely encourage you guys to try this too! If you’re like us, you’ll just go with what you have in the cupboard.)

1/2 cup loose packed light brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup chunky applesauce

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp butter, melted

2/3 cup fresh raspberries

For the topping:

2 Tbsp browned butter

1-2 Tbsp coconut milk

2-3 Tbsp slivered almonds

How to Make:

If you’re anything like Luke and I, before you start making this breakfast you’re going to pour yourself a big, steaming cup of coffee. It’s the best way to make this recipe, I promise. While you’re sipping that java, preheat your oven to 350.

Grab a small baking dish or small casserole dish and spray it with Pam or whatever cooking spray you have in the cupboard. Set that aside for now.

Locate a large bowl and now begins the mixing and assembling of ingredients. First in are the oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Whisk it all together.

Pour the melted butter into the wet ingredients and then pour the fully mixed wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Get all that?

Not too hard, right?

Last thing to do is grab your fruit of choice (we did raspberries, but as noted above, have also done blueberries and had this turn out just as delicious). Give the fruit a good rinse, chop them up if needed (like if using peaches, for instance) and then through ’em in with everything else.

Pour the oatmeal into a baking dish…

…and bake this for 25 minutes or so, or until the top is turning golden. However, while this is baking, you have a second task!

Browned butter. What the heck is that?! It’s glorious. That’s all you need to know. And you’re about to have some on your oatmeal.

In truth, it’s just normal butter that’s been cooked up to just enough of a temperature that these wonderful brown bits form in the bottom of the pan start to meld with the melted butter and this new toffee scent from the butter is wafting into your nostrils.

I learned how to make browned butter from Jessica’s instructions in Simply Delish and it is pretty damn simple. You heat the butter over medium-low heat (I go lower so I don’t accidentally burn it) and you whisk and whisk and whisk until the previously mentioned little brown bits start to appear in the bottom of the pan. Once you see those, you’re golden! (Haha, pun fully intended). Remove this from the heat and keep giving it a few more stirs and then, it’s ready to use!

I made only the 2 tbsp that were needed for the oatmeal, but you can always make a bit batch and store it for use down the road!

Once the baked oatmeal is done, pull it out and drizzle the browned butter over the top, drizzle the bit of the coconut milk too and then throw on the slivered almonds.

This is sooooo yummy and it will be a wonderful breakfast. It’s got all these great flavors with the coconut milk mixed with the caramel-y browned butter, crunchy and nutty almonds, tartness from the fruit and that classic oat flavor that is at the base of why we all love oatmeal. Such a simple dish when you think about it, oats and liquid, but this recipe kicks it up a notch and in the best way.

We ate ours with a fantastic Spicy Maple Sausage that my husband whipped up. I can’t wait to share his recipe with you all in a future post!

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as we did!

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I was always a bit hesitant about scones. They seemed like muffins’ dry and boring cousin. But that was until I met Luke, a man obsessed with scones. So I actually began ordering scones in restaurants and cafes and found that when done right, they can be AMAZING! My favorites were ones where there was fruit involved, blueberries or strawberries. And I figured, that it couldn’t be too hard to try to make some…

You know how when you get a new cookbook, there are just some recipes that jump out at you and you KNOW you have to try it?! Regardless of the time or the steps, sometimes the picture or the name of a recipe jumps out of the cookbook to me. I know which recipes these were for each of the dozen cookbooks I own (an example, Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts from Barefoot Contessa’s How Easy is That? cookbook). One of these such experiences was with The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (another fairly new favorite cookbook of mine, from the blog Smitten Kitchen) and her recipe for Whole-Wheat Raspberry Ricotta Scones.

I now had the perfect reason to make scones: I finally came to the conclusion these could be delicious, I could feed my husband a good portion of them (and earn some brownie points, perhaps) AND I had a great recipe to start from.

I made these the first time last Christmas, following the recipe to a ‘T’ from the cookbook. I loved them and thought they turned out incredibly moist and delicious. However, I wanted to make them again and put my own spin on them. Particularly, I wanted to experiment with using something instead of ricotta, as I don’t normally have that just ‘hanging out’ in my fridge.

So, this is my own spin on the recipe from Deb’s cookbook. I think the original recipe is great and highly encourage you guys to pick up her cookbook, flip to page 15 and give it a go. You can also try my twist on it below and see what you think!

I didn’t have whole-wheat flour on hand and used cottage cheese instead of ricotta, so the texture and taste of mine is slightly different. I personally loved the twist and will continue to make them this way in the future, especially as it means I likely could decide to make these and have everything I need on hand and not require any grocery store trips. However, making them with the original recipe gives more texture and makes them a bit thicker, due to the ricotta mixture. So it’s up to you!

Ready for scone-making? Here we go…

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter

1 c. fresh raspberries (or insert in another fruit you want to use, blueberries or strawberries could be great!)

3/4 c. skim milk cottage cheese

1/3 c. heavy cream

How to Make:

First things first, preheat your oven (which I always seem to forget to do) to 425. Next, prep your baking sheet by lining it with a big sheet of parchment paper. My parchment paper loves to just roll itself back up in a ball so I set a drinking glass on each end to help keep it in place. Genius move, I know.

Next up: dry ingredients. Measure out the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt and whisk it all up together in a medium-sized bowl.

Now, butter time. Grab your butter directly from the fridge when you’re ready for this step. Chop it up into little cubes and then drop those directly into your bowl of dry ingredients. As I lacked a pastry blender, I went with the finger-mixing method. Gently work the butter into the dry ingredients until the large butter pieces start to become little pea-size guys. The butter should be mixed in enough that the dry ingredients just look a bit more like a sandy mixture, kind of with a breadcrumb consistency.

With whichever fruit you decided to use, throw it on a cutting board and chop it up a bit. Strawberries you’d want to definitely chop down into smaller pieces but blueberries and raspberries can just get a quick rough chop and be all set. Once you’re done chopping, throw the fruit into the dry ingredients.

Last, but certainly not least, measure out and throw in the cottage cheese and the heavy cream. Stir everything together gently, ensuring all the dry ingredients are exposed to the wet ingredients, soaking up all the dairy goodness.

Once it all starts to come together and look like dough, pour out the batter on to a floured surface (cutting boards work well for this). Get your hands good and floured up too, as this is a sticky dough and it loves to hang out on your hands. Add some flour to the top of the dough and work it into a square that’s about an inch high. Now, cut the square into 9 smaller squares and transfer each square to your parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake ’em for 15 minutes or until the tops are just starting to golden up.

Sigh, they look and smell SO tasty, right?! Cool them for a few minutes in the pan, then move them to a wire cooling rack to fully cool.

These are SUPER good when they’re still warm but they keep well in a Ziploc for a few days too. We loved having them on the counter to allow both of us to grab a quick breakfast on-the-go. They were also great for a snack or a little dessert at the end of the day. To be perfectly honest, they don’t last long on our counter as we both gobble them up pretty quick. I don’t even feel guilty about that, they’re so tasty and wonderful that we just can’t help ourselves.

These got a big thumbs up from my husband, the scone-lover and I think you guys will REALLY love them too. Highly encourage you guys to try these out and leave me a comment about how they go!

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To carry on with delicious comfort fall foods, I have a main dish recipe that will blow the socks off your feet. Yes! Your socks will land in the other room and you won’t even care because you will be in the midst of devouring the most tender and savory meatballs.

Ok, so that may be a BIT of an exaggeration …a little bit…

But I can’t tell you enough how good these are so you must just trust me and make them yourself! Pleaseeee! And tell me how they turn out for you because I just know it’ll be a hit. A walk-off triple. Three and out for a rockstar defense. (Sorry, my husband’s coaching terms are rubbing off.)

Before we dive into meatball heaven here, I must disclose that I have a soft spot for meatballs. I don’t know what it is, but I think they’re one of my favorite comfort foods. I have favorite go-to recipes for tangy turkey meatballs with cranberry sauce (one I’ve been meaning to share with you guys), another for BBQ meatballs that are great when you are sick and just want yummy, simple food and the ones I’ve shared with you here already – Spicy Turkey Meatballs, Barefoot Contessa style. Now I think I’ve stumbled into a fourth to keep in my arsenal of meatball go-to’s.

Now if you’re at all on the fence about meatballs (which, I’m sorry but I don’t QUITE relate), perhaps convincing you that these are like sinking your teeth into a delicious meat version of french onion soup, with the same drippy cheese and delicious cooked down onions. Except this…

…that cheese and onion that makes french onion soup SO good?!?

It’s INSIDE the meatballs!

Mind. Blown.

Right?!

So stay with me here, if you like anything I said above then all I can say is, you will love these babies. This recipe is adapted from the amazing recipe posted over at Cupcakes and Kale Chips. I cannot say how thankful I am for Brianne’s creation. My version is adjusted for ingredients we had in our kitchen and I note a few spots below that you could also experiment and make these your own.

First thing that you’re going to get cooking is the onions. Halve and slice up the onions.

After heating up the olive oil in a saucepan, add in the sliced onions, S&P and let it cook down and become fragrant for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to give this a stir with a spatula regularly to keep everything cooking.

While your onions are cooking, start in on the meatballs. Mix ALL of the ingredients listed for the meatballs, except the mozzarella, together in a medium-sized bowl. Mix everything together using your hands or a spatula. Then, divide the meat mixture into 15 separate balls.

Back to the onions, once they’re carmelized and looking GOOD, add in your thyme, letting it cook in with the onions for a few minutes.

Then add in the wine and beef stock / broth. This is when it hits you…these onions are going to be out of this world. And why have you never thought to cook onions this way? What is it about red wine and beef stock / broth that makes onions smell and taste so darn good?! I do not know the answer to that, but I admit that I snuck quite a few onions from the pan while everything reduced down.

Sigh, good stuff. Let the onions cook down until there’s not much liquid left in the pan. Then remove from heat and let it cool a bit.

While those onions are making your mouth water, it’s time to prep your mozzarella. Divide about 3-4 oz of the mozzarella block into 15 small cubes. Put these on to a plate or in a bowl. Next to your mozzarella pieces, place your meatballs. Once your onions are cooked down and cooled, add them to your assembly line. Add an empty plate to the end, where you can place your finished meatballs.

Now for the fun part! We are stuffing these meatballs, guys. And it’s an imperfect process and that is a-ok.

No stressing, ok?!

To stuff each meatball, take one of the meatballs and flatten it in the palm of your hand.

Grab a small handful of onions and place those in the middle of the patty.

Place one of the small mozzarella cubes on top and then gently pat the meat mixture around the stuffing to make it back into a ball shape.

This doesn’t turn out perfect looking meatballs, onions might be visible and mozzarella might be visible and it’s ok! Guess what?! It makes everything melty and wonderful and it will taste the same darn way no matter what they look like. So have fun, and stuff all of your 15 meatballs!

Now for this next step, I used my cast iron skillet as it’s stove top and oven friendly. If you have one, I’d recommend you use it for this next step as it’s super simple. If you don’t have a pan that is both stove top and oven friendly, not to worry. You can start with a skillet and then transfer to a oven dish after. As you decide on your skillet / oven dish of choice, preheat the oven to 350.

Heat up a the olive oil in the skillet and place all 15 of the meatballs in, one by one. Brown them on all sides, flipping them to ensure they’re browned all over. And again, don’t worry if they break a part a little bit.

Once the browning process is complete (and you’ve wiped that drool off your chin, because yes, these look and smell SO good at this point), mix up your sauce, whisking everything together. If you’re using the same pan from stove top to oven, then pour the sauce on top and carefully place in the oven. If you’re switching dishes, move your meatballs from the skillet to an oven dish and then pour the sauce on top before putting in the oven. Bake these delectable dudes for 15-20 minutes.

While those are baking, slice up the remainder of your mozzarella cheese and chop up some extra parsley for the top of the meatballs.

After the 15-20 minutes go by, pull ’em out and place the mozzarella on top. Pop ’em back in and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Bake until the cheese starts bubbling and starts to turn golden.

Pull the meatballs out, garnish with the remaining fresh parsley and serve it up to hungry people. These will disappear faster than you can even fathom. They are drippy, cheesy, flavorful meatballs. They will rock your world and warm your insides. They would be perfect alongside some fresh veggies and some bread or grain that will soak up the juices on your plate. Nothing should be wasted here, friends!

I hope you guys give this a go. It’s a new favorite in our home and will be for decades (we’ve made it twice in the last two months)!!